Hanekom proud of being an ANC spy but refutes apartheid spy claims

Derek Hanekom went to jail during apartheid for being an ANC spy and says claims he is now a "known enemy agent" have caused his family to receive threats.

Former tourism minister and ANC NEC member Derek Hanekom, with anti-apartheid stalwart and ANC veteran Sunny Singh, at the Durban High Court on Friday. Photo: African News Agency/ANA

Legal counsel for former tourism minister Derek Hanekom has told the Durban High Court that insinuations by Jacob Zuma to her client being an apartheid spy are defamatory and dangerous because of the source of the claim.

Zuma’s tweet that caused a confrontation

In July 2018 former President Jacob Zuma took to Twitter to call Derek Hanekom “a known enemy agent” and even linked him to a plot he brought up in his testimony to the Zondo Commission.

Hanekom initiates legal proceedings

Of course, Hanekom took serious issue with the statement and even launched a R500 000 defamation claim against Zuma, which is currently being sat in the Durban High Court.

In her submission, Advocate Carol Steinberg, Hanekom’s legal council, told the court that her client was proud to wear the badge of ‘ANC spy’ but said that to call him an apartheid spy was just defamatory.

“Mr. Hanekom went to jail for treason because he was deemed an ANC spy, he is proud to have played his part. But to be called a spy for the enemy is as defamatory as it gets,” she said.

Carol Steinberg

Context is everything in Hanekom case

While Zuma never actually mentioned apartheid, Steinberg argued that the context within which the tweet was made, and the reference to the Zondo Commission, made it quite clear what he was referring to.

“Even without the reference to the Zondo commission, when one senior member of the ANC calls another member a known enemy agent, the most likely meaning is an apartheid spy,” she said.